<011. FC Chabum (1)>
It's just simply natural for a miner to want to keep a valuable gemstone he found.
Moreover, when it comes to soccer, there is no such thing as nationality boundaries.
No matter if a person is black, white or Asian, good players must be bought with a lot of money, and the players that look like they might do good in the future must be bought before their value rises.
That was Carlos's law of steel.
"Your son is like a gemstone that needs polishing. I want to ask you how you feel about training your son professionally at our FC Academy and proceeding with a youth contract later on. What do you think?"
As the couple and Carlos were talking, Ho Yung was distracted by something else.
[Select the skill you desire.]
Lightning fast ball cutting (B)
Compliant ball defending (C)
'If both are defensive skills, of course, I have to select the one with the B grading.
As he took the lightning fast ball cutting (B), it was Costa's turn.
[Select the skill you desire.]
Soccer prodigy (B+)
Legs faster than a Lamborghini (A)
King of mood swings (C)
"Hmm."
It was such a happy concern.
'I already have soccer genius (B+), but I wonder what will happen if I choose it again.'
He thought carefully.
It would be a waste if he took it, and nothing happened.
'Then maybe legs that put a Lamborghini to shame?'
It has been a natural arrangement for men to automatically be attracted to sports cars, but Ho Yung decided to think more rationally.
'Ah, but I already have the kick and run.'
When he receives a through ball, his running is slow, but as soon as he has the ball, he can use his explosive speed. The only problem was that he couldn't use it frequently, because it would put a strain on his knees.
'Hmm. Then, of course, backing that up with fast legs would be good. There are a lot of soccer geniuses spread out across the world, but there aren't a lot of people with extremely good speed.'
Additionally, off-the-ball movement was a player's food and water.
In order to destroy offside traps, and taking apart defensive walls efficiently, you needed a fast pace.
'Alright.'
Solidifying his decision, Ho Yung went with the safe route instead of rolling the dice.
[Ho Yung Wu]
Skills Possessed
Soccer Prodigy (B+) ↑
Heavy Mid Shoot (C)
Strong muscles of a healthy man (C)
Impressive curving free kick (C-)
Chaminator's kick and run (U)
Legs faster than a Lamborghini (A)
Lightning fast ball cutting (B)
'Jackpot.'
After receiving the fast legs, Ho Yung felt the energy coming up in his legs. It felt like he could take home the gold medal in the elementary school sports day at that moment.
'This is also overpowered.'
The inexhaustible skill of greed.
It was electrifying to just think about.
If he kept going on the road he was on, couldn't he become the world's greatest soccer player?
It was at the moment that Ho Yung's lips split into a smile.
[To completely transfer the skill, it will take 7 days. You cannot receive other skills during the next 7 days.]
'Looks like I took too many skills today.'
Still, compared to the 30 days that it took to digest Cha Du-ri's skill, this wasn't too bad.
His plan was to train his existing skills for the next week or so.
Suddenly, at that moment, someone came out of nowhere and held a mic to him.
"Ho Yung Woo, the player that scored a hat trick today! You seem to be in a good mood!"
It was announcer Sung Don Cho, who had used the interval to come out onto the pitch.
Ho Yung answered.
"Yep. It was a shame we lost, but it's okay."
"Hahaha. Are you saying that you acknowledge your opponent even though you lost the match?"
"Mmm. Defeat or victory is important, but more than anything, I just wanted to score a goal today."
"Is that so? Now that I look back, you were running harder than ever before today. Is there a special reason for that?"
"I wanted to show that I could score even against a foreign country's team. Some people told me that I couldn't."
"Haha. Does that mean that you're satisfied? If you think about it, you might have to thank those people!"
"Yes. Haters are also fans."
"Ah!! Yes! Thank you for the interview, player Ho Yung Wu!"
Although it wasn't a live broadcast, the announcer hurriedly turned the mic away.
"Uhahaha!"
A burst of laughter came from between the directors.
It was from Cho PD, who was in the centre.
"Ah, that kid really cracks me up."
He felt that this episode would get a very good rating.
As Ho Yung's family was heading home after wrapping up the filming, Hwang Sun's purple Elantra changed directions and stopped at a charcoal-grill rib restaurant.
"Son. We're dining out today!'
"Woah!"
Was this a celebration for scoring a hat trick?
Ho Yung was surprised at the scale of the dinner, which was bigger than usual.
But, as they sat down in their seats, he discovered the true reason why they were dining out.
"A tr-transfer…? To Sao Paulo?"
"Yes. Ho Yung, listen carefully. You'll be chosen through a regular test in the academy, but FIFA isn't allowing that right now."
Since Hi Sun knew a lot about soccer, she explained it simply so that her young son could understand.
"Do you know what I'm saying? So right now, you're too young…"
"I know! You're saying that I can't go overseas by myself because I'm too young."
"That's it! How is our son so smart?"
It was quite a famous rule, so Ho Yung knew it well since a long time ago.
FIFA's transfer provision 19, the law was that a player could only be transferred overseas if they were at least 18 years old.
There were several exceptions in order to protect the rights of young players, but Ho Yung's situation wasn't relevant to that.
It was possible if they used a shortcut, but that would mean that his family would all have to go work in Brazil.
'Realistically impossible…'
The only way to go was to go at the risk of being caught.
'Well, it's not like we'll get thrown in prison since people get caught often. If we do get into trouble, we can just ask for help from the FC.'
Even though it may be a small problem, there wasn't exactly anything that could be an obstacle for his future. And since Sao Paulo FC was already considering a Youth contract, that meant that they had a countermeasure plan, so there wasn't anything to worry about.
After organising his thoughts, Ho Yung opened his mouth.
"But why did they leave without telling me? Coach Carlos, I mean."
"He didn't want to put pressure on you. There are reporters and a lot of people who are giving you attention. That's why he left after talking to us briefly."
"Ah~ So what did you say?"
As if waiting for that moment, Hwang Sun interjected loudly.
"Of course we said no!"
"Whaaaaat?!"
"We scolded him, saying how could we send our son, who is only 10 years old overseas? Of course, we can't allow it!"
"Whaat….?!"
As Ho Yung was about to faint, Hwang Sun laughed boldly and change his words.
"I'm joking, son!"
"What is this!!"
Of course, there was no way for his father to reply like that, since he loved soccer as much as Ho Yung did.
"I'm not good at speaking other languages so I just left after saying thank you a lot of times. Your mother did all the negotiating."
Slide.
Ho Yung's eyes shifted to HI Sun.
"What did you say, mum?"
"I said that it was okay as long as you were fine with it."
"Yes!"
"Are you that happy?"
"Of course!!"
Brazil.
How could he not be happy when he was to go to a country that can't be left out when the word "soccer" comes to mind?
The S-class of the world's best academy?
It was harsh but the standards were different.
It wasn't that Bum Gon Cha's soccer academy's standards were low, it was that Sao Paulo FC's standards were high.
'So many superstars were born in this club.'
It was an opportunity to learn things that weren't taught in European soccer. It was a golden chance to get the skills of brilliant players across South America. If he gets everything he can get and goes to the European stage, that would be the perfect icing on the cake.
And, this wasn't a simple academy. If he got the Youth contract, he could play soccer while earning money.
But.
"Ho Yung. They say that there are about two Korean kids in the club… but the language is a problem. Brazil uses Portuguese."
"That's okay. I can learn, starting today!"
Ho Yung, who felt like he could overcome any obstacle, wanted to leave as soon as he could.
Whether it was Brazil or Europe, he wanted to learn professionally in a country that was good at soccer.
'But the youth competition has to end anyway.'
If he wanted to follow Carlos, he had to wait until Sao Paulo FC finished their world youth competition.
Then what should he do until that happens?
'Hmm. I heard that FC Chabum is also competing.'
He immediately turned on his computer and looked up the details.
"Wow. 16 teams are competing."
A Division
Brazil (Sao Paulo FC Youth Team)
Japan (Under 13s Representative Team)
Mexico (Under 13s Representative Team)
England (Wolverhampton Youth Team)
B Division
South Africa Republic (Kaiser Chiefs Youth Team)
Paraguay (Under 13s Representative Team)
Germany (VFB Stuttgart Youth Team)
South Korea (Under 13s Representative Team)
C Division
Poland (Under 13s Representative Team)
South Korea (FC Chabum Youth Team)
Sweden (Djurgårdens IF Youth Team)
Portugal (FC Porto Youth Team)
D Division
Denmark (FC Copenhagen)
France (FC Metz)
Ireland (Under 13s Representative Team)
Turkey (Galatasaray Youth Team)
It was a world youth festival.
'This is a buffet of advanced teams!'
Ho Yung looked at another article.
[MBS World Youth Soccer Competition, opening fanfare on the coming 18th, final entries close on the 16th…]
'The 16th is 5 days away."
There was still a chance.
At the same time, there was one problem.
"Ouch."
The light pain in his knees.
It hadn't hurt this much during the match, but the pain had gotten worse since he had come home.
'I did strain myself a little this match.'
He felt the need to be careful in the future.
He thought that he needed to raise his physical strength in order to use his soccer skills freely.
Soccer wasn't all about fancy footwork, and fantastic techniques always come with a price.
Brazil's Ronaldo had gotten frequent injuries due to overworking his thigh muscles and knees.
'That's why I need to do injury-preventing training from now on.'
No pain, no gain.
"Heave ho!"
"Ho Yung, what's wrong? Is your leg hurting?"
As Ho Yung did the stretches that he had learnt at the academy, Hi Sun asked with a worried expression.
Ho Yung shook his head.
"Looks like I'm going to get taller! Hahah!"
He didn't want to worry her.
But, as if knowing that fact, Hi Sun started massaging Ho Yung's legs.
"Ho Yung. If you're having a hard time, you can stop. Your health is my number one priority."
You have to be healthy too.
Keeping that in his heart, Ho Yung spoke concisely.
"Yep."
Slide.
As he lay down while getting a massage, his eyes began to droop before long.
A mother truly does have healing hands.